Thursday, April 24, 2008

Don't Forget the Label

This is one of the things that I have a problem with - the added step of adding a label to my quilts. I hate to think of how often I have completed a quilt, then not added this needed information to the back. One of the things that really helps me is to use one of the pre-printed labels that are available to purchase. A 1/2 yard panel gives you a large assortment of attractive labels to adorn your quilt with very little work. The only other thing you need is a permanent archival quality writing pen and a needle and thread to attach it.

A really clever person could think about it ahead of time and actually piece it into the back of the quilt, but I am not that clever, mine are usually just hand appliqued on the lower right corner of the back of the quilt. every once in a while I do get a little clever and add the label before the binding, so I only have to hand sew two sides!!




One hint to make it easier to write on the label is to iron freezer paper onto the back of it. This makes it a little more stable and easy to write on. I like to practice what I want to write on a piece of paper the size of my label, just to make sure everything fits and looks nice. I like to use a pigma pen, or sometimes a medium point gel pen (and I like to use colors!). The minimum information I add is my name, the date, my city, and the name of the quilt. If I'm making a gift label I put the name of the recipient, and the giver if it's been purchased for someone else. I've been known to add a poem, or quotation, or a bible verse, each of these things makes the quilt more personal.
After writing on the label, I attach it to the quilt with pins, trying to get it fairly straight (not always my strong point!). I stitch it down using an applique stitch.



I don't know why it's so hard to do this, it hardly takes any longer than it's taken me to type this post, but it's a very important part of quiltmaking. After all someday, somebody will want to know who made this quilt and why, and what was she thinking when whe used that color of purple?

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